Cigarette machine



E. D. SMITH May 19, 1942.

CIGARETTE vMACHINE Filed July 9, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l MITH mm. A NR @EE W www ATTORNEY May 19, 1942. E. D. SMITH 2,283,394

' CIGARETTE lMACHINE; v

Filed July 9, 1938 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.4

FIG. 8

35 y ff 4746 zml?, a u 9 34- H l 4s 302! d INVENTOR ELBERON D. SMITH Patented May 19, 1942 l UNETED? s STATES CIGARETTE MACHENE Application' .myY 9, 193s, serial No. 218,273

(o1. 1er-s4) 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a cigarette machine, especially to mechanism for transferring tobacco from a feed chute to rod-forming means in a cigarette machine of the class in which the tobaccor transfer comprises an endless belt caused to pass beneath a feed chute, receiving therefrom the requisite amount of tobacco, and which delivers the tobacco to the rod-former, after having subjected the tobacco to the pressure from a compressor unit while passing down an incline.

In commercial machines constructed as` disclosed in my earlier Patent No. 1,998,146, sucha transfer mechanism is embodied, and provides for delivery of the tobacco onto an endless belt on which the tobacco is received as it drops from the end of the inclined transfer. Owing to. the fact that the belt which receives the shower of tobacco from the chute is inclined throughout its portion under the chute at substantially the same angle as that of its path under the'compressor belt beyond the chute, the body of the chute occupies an overhead space which is undesirably subversive of economy in space, and an object of the present invention is to 'eliminate this and other disadvantages of the conventional transfer.

In carrying the present invention into eiect, there is provided a cigarette machine feed chute adapted to con-line the tobacco falling therethrough in a shower, means for continuously forwarding a cigarette paper strip, a traveling end.- less forwarding belt having a substantially level run extending underneath said chute to receive the tobacco and having a run extending beyond said chute to deliver a stream of tobacco upon the paper strip at an angle thereto, and anv endless compressor belt beyond said chute having an inclined lower run coacting with the inclined upper run of said forwarding belt to compress the tobacco thereon, the belts being run at a speed adequate to project a continuous unbroken cascade of the tobacco at substantially the linear speed of theV cigarette paper, so that the filler stream thus deliveredto the rod former, is free l from soft spots and insures the formation of a be. hereinafter fully described and then more fully pointed out in the appended claims.

In the. accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 isa view in sectional elevation showing a Vtobacco transfer drive in the construction of which the present invention has been embodied;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation, taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. .1; Y f

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in. side elevation showing an extension of the rod-forming drive in accordance with this invention;

Fig. l is a sectional end elevation, taken on the line l4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view in vertical section, taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a similar detail view, upon a larger scale, taken on the line 6-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional View of a modication showing a type of belt tensioning device in which a weight, suspended from a band over a pulley, is substituted for a spring; and

Fig. 8 is a partial sectional plan View of Fig. 3.

The tobacco transfer, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, consists of a drivepulley Il around which an endlessV` belt l2 is disposed, and from which the belt is led over idler i3 and pulley i4 of the belt tensioning device- |5- to a guide pulley I6 and the-n over Vidler pulley Il, whence the belt runs horizontally under the tobacco chute lto a pulley I9, and then it dips down to idler 2i) and so on back to the drive pulley- Il.

By thus passing the tobacco transfer belt horizontally under the chute, the invention makes it possible to provide a lower tobacco mixer, and the air space, through which thev tobacco has to drop in the chute, can be materially reduced, thus avoiding inaccuracy when the machine is started and stopped.

While the belt is traveling horizontally between pulleys l'l and IS, it receives the required amount of tobacco T, which is being fed down the chute I8. A hinged panel I0 (Fig. 2) running the full Ylength of the chute i3, provides a convenient means for observing the condition of ow of tobacco asV it is being deposited on the transfer belt l2; it'also serves the purpose of a. clean-out. The panel isshown by dotted lines lill), as in open p0- sition.

As the belt continues down between the pulleys 5 9- and 2Q, the tobacco is subjected to a certain amount of pressure from a superimposed compressor unit.

The compressor unit shown in Fig. 1, comprises an endless belt 2l driven bya pulley 22 and passing over guide pulleys 23, 24 and -25 and also over pulley 26 of the belt tensioning device 21.

The two drive pulleys II and 22 are geared to run with the same peripheral speed, and the two endless belts I2 and 2| will therefore run at the same linear speed.

AS the belt passes over pulley I9, and the belt 2| passes under pulley 25, the tobacco T on belt I2 passes into a confined space between the two belts I2 and 2| and is subjected to a gradually increasing pressure as the belts approach each other, until they pass over their respective pulleys 28 and 24.

When the tobacco emerges from this wedgeshaped confinement it drops over the pulley 20 onto the rod-forming belt 29, over which the cigarette paper P has been entered ready to receive the tobacco.

The drive of the rod-forming mechanism, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, comprises an endless belt 29 driven by a pulley 30 and passing over a pulley 3| `and guide pulley 32,- and over pulley 33 of the belt tensioning device. The pulley 39 is iixedly secured to the shaft 36a which is mounted in the frame 60 of the cigarette machine. A hand wheel 30h xedly secured to pulley 36 by means of tie rods 30e is provided for threading a new strip of cigarette paper P and filler through the machine. The belt tensioning device includes the above mentioned pulley 33 which is adjustably mounted in the top portion of an arm 34a pivotally mounted in a bearing 35 concentric with the drive pulley 38. A spur gear 36 meshes with the rack 34 projecting from arm 34a. The spur gear 36 through its shaft 31 (Fig. 6) and collar 38 engages the sleeve 40 4by means of a screw 39.

To sleeve 49 (Fig. 5) is attached the inner end of a spiral spring 4|, the outer end of which engages a slot 42 in the stationary housing 43. The tension in spring 4| can be varied by backing out screw 39 (Fig. 6) and then the operator will rotate sleeve 40 until the desired tension is obtained. The screw 39 will then be inserted in one of the several holes 44 nearest to the screw 39.

As the tension in the spring 4|, through the parts above described, actuates the spur gear 36, it rotates the rack 34 around its center 35 and raises it, carrying with it the pulley 33, swinging it in a path `concentric with the periphery of the drive pulley 39 and thus induces tension in tension in the belt 29, the operator takes hold of handle 45 and bears down on it until the lock plunger 46 snaps into a hole 41 inthe stationary The belt tensioning pulley 33 is mounted in a forked bracket 48 which is pivoted in the top part of the rack 34, on the shank extension of handle 45. A compression spring 49 interposed between bracket 48 and rack 34 tends to force the pulley 33 against thedrive pulley 38 and, if the adjusting screw 50 is backed off sufficiently, the

belt 29 is pinched between the two pulleys.

The belt tensioning pulley 33 is in such a p0- sition that the tension in the belt 29, produced by the spring 4I through a spur gear 36 and rack 34, assists the spring 49 in crowding the pulley 33 against the drive pulley 30. When it is not desirable to pinch the belt as above described, the adjusting screw 40 is set up so as to move pulley 33 away from the drive pulley 30 and the device will then function as a belt tensioning device only.

In Fig. 7 is indicated a modified construction of a belt tensioning device which eliminates the spring feature and otherwise simplifies the device previously described.

In this construction, a pulley 5I is attached to the end of the spur gear shaft 54, which passes through a bearing 50 in the frame of the machine. On this pulley is secured one end of a belt 52, the other end being arranged to suspend a weight 53. As the weight 53 acts with a constant lever arm-the radius of the pulley-it produces a constant torque in the shaft 54 and thus causes the rack 34, through spur gear 36, to rise and by means of pulley 33 it produces a constant tension in the belt 29.

The belt tensioning devices I5 and 21 for the tobacco transfer could be similarly constructed, but a device as disclosed by Patent No. 1,675,671 by John A, Stein and also incorporated in Patent No. 1,824,391 by W. B. Bronander, requires less space, is more compact and is readily adjusted.

The invention above described may be varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many concrete embodiments ofthe same. The invention therefore is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a cigarette machine feed chute adapted to conne the tobacco falling therethrough in a shower, of means for continuously forwarding a cigarette paper strip, a traveling endless forwarding belt having a substantially level upper run extending underneath and beyond said chute to receive the shower of tobacco `at substantially right angles, and having at one end of said level upper run a substantially straight run inclined downwardly toward said paper strip, thus acting to deliver a stream of tobacco to the paper strip at an angle thereto, and a traveling endless compressor belt adjacent the same end of said level upper run, having a substantially straight downwardly inclined lower run coacting with the downwardly inclined run of said forwarding belt to compress the tobacco thereon.

2. The combination with va cigarette machine feed chute adapted to confine the tobacco falling therethrough in a shower, of means for continuously forwarding a cigarette paper strip at a predetermined level, a traveling endless forwarding belt having a substantially level upper run extending underneath said chute somewhat above the level of said paper to receive the shower of tobacco and having a substantially straight run inclined downward toward said paper strip to deliver a stream of tobacco to the paper strip at an angle thereto, and a traveling endless compressor belt beyond said chute having a substantially straight downwardly inclined lower run coacting with the downwardly inclined run of said forwarding belt to compress the tobacco thereon.

3. The combination with a cigarette machine feed chute adapted to confine the tobacco falling therethrough in a shower, of means for continuously forwarding a cigarette paper strip at a predetermined level, a traveling endless forwarding belt having a substantially level upper run extending underneath said chute somewhat above the level of said paper, to receive the shower of tobacco and having a substantially straight run inclined downward beyond said chute to deliver a stream of tobacco to the paper strip at an angle thereto, a traveling endless compressor belt beyond said chute having a downwardly inclined run coasting with the substantially straight downwardly inclined run of said forwarding belt to compress the tobacco thereon, a driving pulley above said inclined compressor run and within the connes of said compressor belt, means to guide the compressor belt directly onto said driving pulley, and means to guide the compressor belt to define its inclined compressor run.

4. In a high speed cigarette machine and in combination, tobacco transfer mechanism including, a feed chute constructed and arranged to deliver a shower of tobacco, a traveling feed belt having a level run disposed to receive said shower, and having an inclined substantially straight run extending beyond said chute, a traveling cigarette paper disposed below the delivery end of said inclined run and receiving a stream of tobacco therefrom, and an endless traveling compressor belt having an inclined substantially straight compressor run cooperating with said inclined run of the feed belt, and a driving'pulley around which said compressor belt is looped.

5. A cigarette machine feed adapted to conne the tobacco falling therethrough in a shower; a traveling endless forwarding belt having a substantially level upper run extending underneath said chute, and having a substantially straight run beyond said chute inclined downwardly beyond said chute at an angle thereto, an endless compressor belt having a substantially straight compressor run above said downwardly inclined run of the forwarding belt, at an angle causing relative approach of said inclined runs preliminary to delivery of the tobacco from said shower, in compressed condition, an endless belt `for `advancing a cigarette paper strip to receive the tobacco from said cooperating inclined runs of the forwarding and compressor belts, and a run of said compressor belt at a different angle relatively to the paper strip than said rst-named compressor run of the compressor belt, whereby a further compression is exerted upon the partially compressed stream of tobacco emerging upon said paper strip from said rst-named inclined walls.

ELBERON D. SMITH. 

